100% OR NOT

[Joe Keller]

I have a Question, I am presently rated at 8o% but being paid at 100% due to I was unemployable since 2008...And a letter from the VA State of Florida  stating I was Total & Permanent Disabled and no further exams would be needed. I was recently diagnosed with Lung Cancer also informed it was terminal, I just put in a claim for Agent orange, Vietnam Echo 2/7 1970 0311  The question is am I 80% or 100% according to the VA letter... ( I am presently 66 yrs old) Was wondering because I want to see if my wife would receive DIC   if I pass... 

[broncovet]

The best thing you could do is to hang on until at least 2018, (10 years after your rating)  but I would like Berta to chime in on that, since she is the resident expert on DIC.   Hanging on until at least 10 years after your rating wont hurt, for sure. 

The good news is that my dad had lung cancer for almost 20 years.  Also, we had a lady in our church who was diagnosed with cancer (I dont remember which kind of cancer) .  God healed her (after prayer)  and she died 25 years later of something else.   I visited her in the hospital a week before she died.  My son was in Iraq at the time, and she prayed for his safety.  Ten minutes later, she told me my son would come back home from Iraq safely.  He did just that.  However, the enemy fired bullets into the wood floor where my son was standing 1 minute before.    She was ready to meet her maker.    

The DIC eligibility page is here:

http://www.benefits.va.gov/compensation/types-dependency_and_indemnity.asp

According to Jim Strickland, your 100% P and T for IU will "count" as far as the 10 years eligibility to DIC from any cause of death.  

http://statesidelegal.org/difference-benefits-100-schedular-disabled-veteran-vs-100-tdiu-disabled

I recommend you speak to an attorney regarding estate preservation in the event of your death.  

 

Edited October 10, 2016 by broncovet

[Berta]

I feel veterans should file claims for anything that could potentially cause their death.

We never know if VA will add more presumptives to the AO regulations in the future....and if they have the same Nehmer Foot Note one clause as IHD, Parkinsons, and Hairy Cell B did in 2010, any NSC ratings for those same disabilities in the future could award a very favorable EED.

My doctor (I am a civilian) always says we never know the hour or day or even what we will die from.

This concerns me....you have terminal lung cancer.... but this was recently diagnosed?

Does your medical care come from the VA?

[Joe Keller]

54 minutes ago, Berta said:

I feel veterans should file claims for anything that could potentially cause their death.

We never know if VA will add more presumptives to the AO regulations in the future....and if they have the same Nehmer Foot Note one clause as IHD, Parkinsons, and Hairy Cell B did in 2010, any NSC ratings for those same disabilities in the future could award a very favorable EED.

My doctor (I am a civilian) always says we never know the hour or day or even what we will die from.

This concerns me....you have terminal lung cancer.... but this was recently diagnosed?

Does your medical care come from the VA?

YES...it is VA diagnosed August 2016, Have been going to the VA since 1977...gunshot wounds arm and leg...I have not been to a civilian doctor since I was a teenager. This is actually the first time I've been sick (except Malaria) and its a doosy...... And I appreciate the time spent on answering my question by all !

[broncovet]

Sometimes I wish the public would see something like this.  Time after time, MEN are regarded as the bad guys, hurting women.  YOu rarely see someone "caring" for their spouse in their final months of life.  Not that it does not happen a lot, but you just never see it.  You see abuse, rape, murder, adultry, etc., etc of women, but just dont see the kind part of men, who love their wives even when faced with death.  

I saw it in a nursing home, where I once worked.  A man walked painfully to see and feed his wife.  (He was old and in great pain, just to walk).  How did his wife respond?  She did not recognize him.  She asked ME if I was her husband.  Maybe she could see the kind way I treated her, and that was the same way her hubby did.    Obviously she had dementia, but he loved her and took great care of her even through his own pain.  

A lot of young people dont even understand what "love" is.  I wonder if that is because most TV shows us what it is not.  

Edited October 10, 2016 by broncovet

[Buck52]

I would say your 100% according to the letter, any time a veteran is being paid at the 100% rate  he is considered to be a 100% disabled veteran...You have a IU RATING using the extra scheduler rating system because your 80% disbility prohibits you from doing any king of employment to make your living. 

If your a Vietnam BOOTS ON THE GROUND Veteran you should file a claim under the A.O. Presumption A.O. Claims   due to your DX of Lung Cancer.

This will help in case your spouse needs to file DIC later.

jmo

...............Buck

Edited October 10, 2016 by Buck52